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Baking Soda and ACV for Hair Wash day: What to expect

Baking Soda and ACV for Hair Wash day: What to expect

Having read all sorts about the benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar -ACV and Baking soda on hair, i decided to try it out myself. By now you should know i like to experiment especially if it is natural products involved and of course pocket friendly.

However before i went ahead i was not sure what to expect with this process in terms of how my hair will react to it. With each step i observed what happened – the part i never read about whilst doing my research. So in this post i am doing sort of review

I started out on a combed out hair – dirty of course.

For baking soda, I had 2 cups of water mixed with 2 tablespoons of Baking soda – which i poured into a bottle with a nozzle for easy application.

For the ACV i had 3 cups of water mixed in 1.5 cups of ACV – which i poured into a bottle with spray head for easy application. Add some coconut oil to the mixture to reduce the ACV smell and also additional benefits.

My view and review

As i wet my hair with warm water, I started to apply the Baking soda mixture at the root of my hair following hair sections to make it easy to cover entire scalp. The nozzle cap of the applicator bottle made this easy to apply as the tip of the nozzle makes parting through easy. The product will naturally drip from the roots to the shaft thus the essence of focusing at the root – scalp level, to prevent product over load.

When all the hair was covered in the mixture. I followed with a gentle massage of the scalp and working my way to the ends of the hair. As I rubbed the hair some more it began to foam -just like you will expect from shampoo. The oil/sebum on your hair reacts with the active ingredient in Baking soda to form soap which then combines with water in the mixture and friction from the massage to cause the foaming…..okay i just went too scientific …lol

I rinsed this out with warm water, to keep the already opened hair cuticles open to allow for the next product to be well absorbed. One time was enough to get the hair clean – you will feel the hair squeakly clean and fine to touch.

I followed with the ACV mixture as my conditioning treatment. The smell was awful, and can be choking if you don’t dilute well. It was at this point i reached for coconut oil to add to mixture. Honey too is good. When all of the hair was soaked in the mixture, i covered the hair for some 15 minutes and rinsed out afterwards with cold water. I did not need to comb to get any tangles out, the hair ran through nicely as i went in with my fingers.

At this point my hair felt really clean and shiny. The hair was soft, really soft and kind of bouncy. This is really all you need to do. Dry and style as usual.

Optional, You can go in with your regular leave-in-conditioner but make sure to warm it up in hot water to help the product penetrate if you have a low porosity hair like me.

This is because i had rinsed out the ACV with cold water which must have closed up my cuticles – and that makes it difficult for moisture to penetrate my hair.

Look out for ACV “with the mother” and/or unfiltered

You are better off doing this with both products to balance out the hair’s pH. So i had to postpone doing this till i got the ACV to do the rinse out. Baking soda alone can be harsh for the hair because it can be abrasive and leaves the hair high and dry afterwards.

Overall i like that this is really economical and it gives the desired result. The only danger i felt was in having to use only one – either Baking soda as shampoo or ACV as conditioner, so thats why i used both together. Baking soda which is alkaline balances out with ACV which is acidic.

Now after a few days my hair felt drier than usual This i can understand so i had to constantly moisturize my hair and it noticed it did not weigh my hair down from product buildup.

This has become part of my hair routine, for every other monthly hair wash. Too frequent use of ACV can affect the balance of sebum -natural oil the hair produces by itself.

I really Cant remember when last i washed my hair at a salon. Have you tried this ? Will you be trying it? What are your thoughts?